Incest could be made legal in Germany following a meeting of the national Ethics Council.

They have called for the legalisation of incest after looking into the case of a brother and sister who had four children together.

Despite the dangers of children of incestual relationships being born with abnormalities, the committee claim this risk is not high enough to warrant its criminalisation.

The committee cited Patrick Stuebing who, after being adopted as an infant, met his biological sister in his 20s and started a relationship with her.

He was imprisoned for three years in 2008, and lost an appeal at the European Court of Humans Rights over his right to a family life in 2012.

Under current German law sexual relationships between siblings of between parents and their children is illegal and punishable with up to two years in prison.

A vote held by the Ethics Council saw 14 people vote to repeal the law, against 9 who voted against the notion while two abstained.

A statement released on Wednesday said: ‘Incest between siblings appears to be very rare in Western societies according to the available data but those affected describe how difficult their situation is in light of the threat of punishment.